Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scale score and percentage distribution of students, by age, amount of reading for school and for fun, and time spent on homework and watching TV/video: Selected years, 1984 through 2012

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]

Amount of reading for school and for fun, time spent on homework and watching TV/video

9-year-olds

13-year-olds

17-year-olds

1984

1994

1999

2008

2012

1984

1994

1999

2008

2012

1984

1994

1999

2008

2012

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

Average scale score1

Pages read daily in school and for homework

5 or fewer

208

(0.9)

203

(2.3)

202

(1.8)

210

(1.1)

207

(1.1)

250

(0.8)

249

(1.7)

249

(2.0)

250

(1.2)

251

(1.8)

273

(0.8)

271

(1.9)

273

(2.7)

271

(1.3)

274

(1.1)

6-10

215

(1.0)

214

(1.7)

212

(1.7)

219

(1.3)

219

(1.5)

261

(0.6)

261

(1.4)

262

(1.7)

258

(1.2)

261

(1.5)

287

(0.9)

284

(2.1)

285

(1.7)

284

(1.4)

283

(1.2)

11-15

220

(1.4)

217

(2.3)

221

(2.4)

224

(1.4)

225

(1.3)

264

(1.0)

266

(1.8)

263

(2.1)

263

(1.1)

266

(1.8)

294

(0.9)

288

(1.9)

292

(2.1)

290

(1.6)

289

(1.5)

16-20

215

(1.4)

209

(2.9)

214

(2.0)

225

(1.5)

226

(1.2)

263

(1.1)

263

(2.3)

264

(2.6)

267

(1.6)

268

(1.8)

296

(1.1)

298

(2.8)

292

(2.9)

296

(1.5)

297

(1.5)

More than 20

215

(1.6)

217

(2.4)

217

(2.1)

226

(1.2)

227

(1.0)

261

(1.5)

261

(2.0)

265

(2.0)

267

(1.4)

271

(1.3)

300

(1.2)

304

(2.2)

302

(1.9)

303

(1.3)

301

(1.5)

Frequency of reading for fun

Almost every day

214

(1.1)

215

(2.3)

215

(2.4)

225

(1.2)

226

(0.9)

264

(1.4)

272

(3.2)

272

(3.2)

274

(1.4)

276

(1.4)

297

(1.5)

302

(4.2)

301

(4.9)

302

(1.3)

302

(1.3)

Once or twice a week

212

(1.7)

214

(3.1)

215

(2.6)

225

(1.3)

226

(0.9)

255

(1.4)

255

(3.1)

263

(3.2)

264

(1.1)

267

(1.4)

290

(1.7)

286

(4.1)

289

(2.9)

291

(1.7)

294

(1.4)

Once or twice a month

204

(3.3)

213

(5.8)

211

(4.2)

221

(1.7)

219

(2.0)

255

(2.1)

255

(5.7)

260

(3.7)

261

(1.3)

264

(1.7)

290

(1.8)

286

(4.5)

286

(4.8)

288

(1.3)

288

(1.5)

A few times a year

197

(4.2)

‡

(†)

‡

(†)

212

(2.0)

211

(1.9)

252

(3.6)

252

(5.4)

253

(4.4)

254

(1.3)

258

(1.6)

279

(2.7)

281

(8.2)

283

(4.4)

287

(1.5)

288

(1.3)

Never or hardly ever

198

(2.7)

193

(3.9)

195

(3.3)

211

(1.2)

208

(1.9)

239

(2.5)

237

(5.1)

242

(5.3)

247

(0.9)

249

(1.3)

269

(2.4)

258

(5.2)

262

(5.0)

269

(1.1)

272

(1.4)

TV/video watched on school day

None

212

(3.4)

212

(4.8)

221

(4.6)

223

(3.0)

222

(3.1)

264

(2.7)

270

(5.1)

265

(6.0)

267

(3.0)

276

(3.5)

300

(1.6)

308

(3.4)

300

(2.8)

292

(2.4)

292

(2.5)

1 hour or less

217

(1.5)

216

(1.8)

218

(2.1)

225

(1.2)

229

(1.2)

269

(1.1)

270

(1.5)

270

(1.6)

266

(1.2)

269

(1.2)

300

(1.2)

299

(2.0)

298

(2.0)

293

(1.2)

292

(1.3)

2 hours

222

(1.1)

219

(2.1)

221

(1.7)

229

(1.1)

227

(1.1)

268

(0.8)

268

(1.4)

268

(1.6)

266

(1.1)

266

(1.5)

295

(0.9)

292

(1.8)

292

(2.1)

290

(1.1)

290

(1.3)

3 hours

220

(1.2)

218

(2.2)

218

(2.3)

227

(1.3)

226

(1.4)

264

(0.7)

262

(1.4)

263

(1.5)

262

(1.3)

261

(1.5)

288

(1.0)

284

(2.0)

282

(2.3)

284

(1.3)

284

(1.2)

4 hours

219

(1.0)

212

(1.8)

214

(2.4)

223

(1.4)

224

(1.4)

262

(0.9)

254

(2.2)

254

(2.4)

255

(1.5)

259

(1.5)

284

(1.0)

276

(4.1)

273

(2.2)

276

(2.3)

277

(2.1)

5 hours

214

(1.4)

209

(2.7)

208

(3.0)

219

(2.2)

213

(2.1)

257

(1.0)

250

(3.0)

253

(3.2)

255

(2.6)

255

(2.1)

277

(1.5)

269

(4.0)

275

(3.8)

273

(2.4)

275

(3.9)

6 hours or more

199

(0.8)

192

(2.7)

191

(1.7)

205

(1.2)

205

(1.2)

245

(1.0)

234

(3.1)

238

(1.8)

238

(1.4)

241

(1.4)

269

(1.5)

256

(3.7)

256

(5.2)

256

(2.3)

261

(2.6)

Percentage distribution

Pages read daily in school and for homework

5 or fewer

36

(0.8)

28

(1.4)

28

(1.4)

25

(0.9)

22

(0.7)

27

(0.7)

26

(0.9)

23

(1.0)

26

(0.8)

23

(0.8)

21

(0.8)

21

(1.2)

23

(1.4)

30

(0.9)

29

(0.7)

6-10

25

(0.4)

26

(0.6)

24

(0.9)

20

(0.5)

17

(0.6)

34

(0.5)

31

(0.9)

31

(1.1)

24

(0.6)

22

(0.8)

26

(0.6)

25

(0.9)

24

(0.8)

23

(0.5)

22

(0.6)

11-15

14

(0.4)

14

(0.5)

15

(0.7)

14

(0.5)

12

(0.4)

18

(0.4)

17

(0.6)

18

(0.8)

17

(0.5)

17

(0.5)

18

(0.3)

18

(0.6)

17

(0.6)

16

(0.5)

15

(0.4)

16-20

13

(0.4)

14

(0.9)

14

(0.7)

14

(0.6)

15

(0.6)

11

(0.2)

13

(0.5)

13

(0.7)

13

(0.4)

14

(0.5)

14

(0.5)

13

(0.6)

14

(0.8)

12

(0.4)

12

(0.5)

More than 20

13

(0.5)

17

(1.0)

19

(1.0)

28

(0.8)

34

(1.1)

11

(0.5)

14

(0.8)

16

(1.0)

22

(0.9)

24

(1.1)

21

(0.9)

23

(1.5)

22

(1.2)

19

(0.7)

22

(0.7)

Frequency of reading for fun

Almost every day

53

(1.0)

58

(1.6)

54

(1.7)

48

(0.7)

53

(0.8)

35

(1.0)

32

(1.8)

28

(1.7)

26

(0.7)

27

(0.7)

31

(0.8)

30

(2.6)

25

(1.7)

20

(0.6)

19

(0.6)

Once or twice a week

28

(0.8)

25

(1.5)

25

(1.5)

23

(0.6)

23

(0.6)

35

(1.2)

32

(2.1)

36

(1.6)

25

(0.6)

26

(0.6)

33

(1.1)

31

(1.9)

28

(2.7)

22

(0.5)

21

(0.6)

Once or twice a month

7

(0.6)

5

(0.6)

6

(0.6)

8

(0.3)

7

(0.4)

14

(0.8)

14

(1.7)

17

(1.6)

13

(0.4)

14

(0.4)

17

(0.5)

15

(1.5)

19

(1.7)

17

(0.5)

16

(0.4)

A few times a year

3

(0.3)

3

(0.6)

4

(0.7)

8

(0.4)

7

(0.3)

7

(0.5)

10

(1.2)

10

(1.1)

12

(0.4)

11

(0.4)

10

(0.5)

12

(1.5)

12

(1.4)

16

(0.5)

18

(0.6)

Never or hardly ever

9

(0.5)

9

(0.8)

10

(0.8)

14

(0.6)

11

(0.4)

8

(0.6)

12

(1.7)

9

(1.4)

24

(0.7)

22

(0.7)

9

(0.6)

12

(1.4)

16

(2.4)

24

(0.6)

27

(0.6)

Time spent on homework yesterday

No homework assigned

35

(1.3)

32

(2.1)

26

(1.6)

18

(1.3)

22

(1.6)

22

(0.7)

23

(1.4)

24

(1.2)

23

(1.2)

21

(1.2)

22

(0.9)

23

(1.4)

26

(1.0)

28

(0.8)

27

(0.9)

Didn't do assignment

4

(0.3)

4

(0.4)

4

(0.3)

5

(0.3)

4

(0.4)

4

(0.2)

6

(0.6)

5

(0.4)

7

(0.3)

5

(0.3)

11

(0.3)

11

(0.6)

13

(0.7)

12

(0.4)

11

(0.4)

Less than 1 hour

41

(1.0)

48

(1.7)

53

(1.4)

60

(1.2)

57

(1.3)

36

(0.6)

34

(1.0)

37

(1.4)

43

(1.2)

44

(0.8)

26

(0.4)

27

(0.9)

26

(1.0)

27

(0.5)

26

(0.8)

1 to 2 hours

13

(0.4)

11

(0.7)

12

(0.7)

12

(0.5)

12

(0.6)

29

(0.5)

28

(1.0)

26

(1.0)

21

(0.7)

23

(0.9)

27

(0.5)

26

(1.2)

23

(0.8)

22

(0.5)

23

(0.6)

More than 2 hours

6

(0.2)

4

(0.4)

5

(0.5)

5

(0.3)

5

(0.3)

9

(0.3)

9

(0.7)

8

(0.8)

6

(0.4)

7

(0.5)

13

(0.5)

13

(0.9)

12

(0.9)

10

(0.5)

13

(0.7)

TV/video watched on school day

None

3

(0.2)

2

(0.2)

4

(0.8)

4

(0.3)

6

(0.3)

2

(0.2)

3

(0.3)

4

(0.6)

5

(0.3)

6

(0.3)

5

(0.3)

6

(0.8)

6

(0.3)

6

(0.3)

10

(0.3)

1 hour or less

14

(0.3)

23

(1.0)

24

(0.9)

24

(0.6)

27

(0.7)

12

(0.4)

20

(1.0)

22

(0.8)

25

(0.7)

29

(0.6)

25

(0.5)

31

(0.9)

34

(0.9)

33

(0.6)

34

(0.6)

2 hours

16

(0.4)

23

(0.7)

21

(0.9)

18

(0.5)

18

(0.5)

23

(0.5)

27

(0.7)

29

(0.8)

25

(0.5)

27

(0.7)

26

(0.3)

26

(0.8)

26

(0.9)

27

(0.6)

25

(0.5)

3 hours

15

(0.3)

16

(0.5)

14

(0.6)

13

(0.4)

12

(0.5)

23

(0.4)

22

(0.8)

20

(0.9)

18

(0.5)

15

(0.5)

20

(0.3)

18

(0.8)

17

(0.7)

16

(0.5)

16

(0.6)

4 hours

12

(0.2)

11

(0.5)

9

(0.4)

9

(0.4)

8

(0.4)

17

(0.4)

12

(0.7)

11

(0.6)

10

(0.4)

8

(0.3)

12

(0.3)

9

(0.6)

8

(0.5)

8

(0.4)

8

(0.3)

5 hours

9

(0.3)

6

(0.4)

6

(0.4)

6

(0.3)

6

(0.3)

10

(0.3)

7

(0.4)

5

(0.3)

5

(0.3)

4

(0.2)

6

(0.2)

5

(0.5)

4

(0.4)

4

(0.2)

3

(0.2)

6 hours or more

30

(0.7)

20

(0.8)

22

(1.2)

26

(0.8)

23

(0.8)

13

(0.4)

10

(0.9)

9

(0.6)

13

(0.4)

10

(0.5)

6

(0.2)

5

(0.4)

5

(0.6)

6

(0.4)

5

(0.3)

†Not applicable.

‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).

1 Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Students scoring 150 (or higher) are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Students scoring 200 are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. Students scoring 250 are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. Students scoring 300 are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material.

NOTE: Includes public and private schools. For 1984, 1994, and 1999, accommodations were not permitted. For 2008 and later years, includes students tested with accommodations; excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 to 4 percent of all students, depending on age and assessment year). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP Trends in Academic Progress, 1996 and 1999; and 2008 and 2012 NAEP Long-Term Trend Reading Assessments, retrieved June 24, 2009, and July 02, 2013, from the Long-Term Trend NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared July 2013.)